The demon's curse
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The demon's curse |
| Original title | Night of the Demon |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jacques Tourneur |
| script |
Charles Bennett Hal E. Chester |
| production | Hal E. Chester |
| music | Clifton Parker |
| camera |
Ted Scaife Kenneth Peach |
| cut | Michael Gordon |
| occupation | |
| |
The Curse of the Demon (original title Night of the Demon ) is a black and white shot British horror film from 1957 by Jacques Tourneur . It is based on the 1911 published short story Casting the Runes (German three months period / The power of the runes) by M. R. James .
An American scientist is investigating a leader of an English devil cult . In doing so, he is increasingly confronted with supernatural phenomena which, as a rationalist , he tries to explain in a natural way. Finally, he discovers a slip of paper with runic symbols that is supposed to conjure up a demon and the information that he only has a few days to live.
action
The American scientist John Holden travels to England to attend a conference on parapsychological phenomena. In addition, at the request of Professor Harrington, he is to investigate Julian Karswell, the leader of a satanist sect . Shortly before Holden's arrival, Harrington is killed by a demon; the official cause of death is death by electric shock. Karswell urges Holden to forego further investigation and to return to America immediately.
Holden is not intimidated by the warning and, despite initial indications of supernatural forces involved, sticks to his rational worldview. Karswell then casts a curse from an ancient runic script on Holden, which conjures up a demon. In addition, the pages with future appointments from Holden's calendar are suddenly missing, an indication that he only has a few days left to live. Holden discovers that the only way for him not to be killed by Karswell's demon is to transfer the curse that has been placed on him directly back to Karswell. At the last second he succeeds, Karswell is torn to pieces by the demon. Since his body is found on a railroad track, police and railway workers suspect that Karswell was hit by a train.
background
Tourneur said he didn't want to show the demon, but the producer Hal E. Chester was of the opinion that the film required the physical presence of the demon and was successful. Author Tony Earnshaw, however, claims in his book Beating the Devil - The Making of Night of the Demon that the explicit presentation of the demon was planned from the beginning. In the finished film, the demon can be clearly seen twice, in the opening sequence (Harrington's murder) and in the finale.
The Curse of the Demon started in Great Britain on December 17, 1957. For the theatrical release in the USA , where the film opened in July 1958, the film was shortened to 83 minutes, renamed Curse of the Demon and in double programs, among other things with the hammer - Production of Frankenstein's Revenge shown. The German dubbed version is based on this abridged version.
In Germany the film was not shown in cinemas, but only had its television premiere on February 27, 1979 .
Reviews
“'Night of the Demon', which took many ideas and individual cut passages from the earlier ' Cat People ', was able to increase its pattern of persecution and tension. He is without a doubt better and more terrifying than 'Cat People' and, more importantly, it is the last true horror 'classic' in film history. In the twenty-one years since it was made, a movie or two got close to him - particularly ' Burn Witch Burn ' - but none have matched or surpassed it. Maybe at some point it will turn out that this really was the absolute pinnacle of the genre of 'thinking' horror films that Val Lewton had started more than ten years earlier. "
“Macabre horror film, with - for the time it was made - perfect tricks. Even today, still acceptable entertainment for friends of the genre. "
Publications
The US (2002) and UK (2010) DVD releases both contain both the original and the abridged version of the film. A German publication was published by Anolis Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG.
Aftermath
- In the opening song Science Fiction / Double Feature of the Rocky Horror Show a line of text reads: "Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes, but passing them used lots of skill".
- In Kate Bush's song Hounds of Love there is the line of dialogue “It's in the trees! It's coming! ”From the film.
- The British band Sol Invictus uses an original dialogue between Karswell and Holden in the introduction to their song Black Easter .
literature
- MR James : Three months period (OT: Casting the Runes ), in which: The treasure of Abbot Thomas. Fantastic stories . German by Friedrich Polakovics. Insel, Frankfurt am Main (1970), ISBN 3-518-38205-5
- MR James : The Power of the Runes (OT: Casting the Runes ), in: All Ghost Stories - Volume 1 . German by Usch Kiausch. Festa-Verlag (2016), ISBN 978-3-86552-482-9
Web links
- Night of the Demon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The curse of the demon on bmovies.de (information, posters and posters)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b William K. Everson: Klassiker des Horrorfilms , Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10205-7 , p. 192
- ↑ Tony Earnshaw: Beating the Devil - The Making of Night of the Demon , Tomahawk Press, Sheffield 2005.
- ^ Entry in the Internet Movie Database , accessed on March 26, 2012.
- ↑ a b The Curse of the Demon in the Lexicon of International Films .